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THE, OREGON, SUNDAY JOURNAL, ,:IpRTLATO; SUNDAY .MOkIING. FEBRUARY ; 1903'.,
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OMAN'S figure, says a famous
poet tn fact, sax P0CIS
is divine. That woman her.
';" self is divine noone would deny, for since
the time. Mother Eve gave to J dam the
'delicious apple of knowledge men have en
. dowed the fair one with all the' attributes
. of goodness and loveliness combined. In
myth and fable she figures as the incom--.,
parable, perfect and flawless creature of all
creation.
' "- But to say that woman's figure is di
' vinetortl, it has not been so at various
periods during the last century, at least.
Woman's beauty depends largely upon
' ' her modiste. This was as true in 1807,
; . when her figure teas marred by the dress of
, the period, as it is in 1908, when all the art
of the dressmaker is invoked to emphasize
its wonderful charm. The figure of woman
1 has been made to suffer from many changes
there have been many embellishments
' and not a few disfigurements. And, per
haps, it has never, in all the history of the
, sex, passed through so many diversities
wrought by fashion as during the last 100
s years. .
' , Gowns, corsets, skirts,, hats and all the
paraphernalia of feminine attire have un-
dergone marvelous and astounding changes,
so that one would think at limes that the
. Eternal Woman herself had changed.
Within recent years it has seemed the
. ,aim of modistes to accept more literally the
' designs of nature, and so pleasing if not
exact adaptations of the old Grecian style
of draperies by far the most artistic ever
conceived, in the opinion of most persons
; have become popular. Many persons pre
dict that, within a comparatively few years,
woman's figure will reveal to full advan-
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aped ' by all 'contemporary nation, inspired but
poor opinion of. human intelligence." -5
' In 1870 tho atylea , auddenly changed, v and
woman'a " figuw ahrank nearer -to normal propor,
tion.'.-1 '. i. ' ;-'...Vvv'' 'i :',".'' ;
' Modesty of attire was 1 affected by all the
women of faehioo, and Mile. Marai the Parisian
idol, no longer made an extravagant skirt or man
tle the style for her aiatera throughout the ciril
ized worlL,iJ .. ' : ,: ,V''.v ' - :
The leg-of-mutton sleeves; popular in the time
of Charles X, became: plain and tight; akirta
shrank to less than 'one-half' the former volume,
and all the crinolines of the Second Empire faded.
Instead of wearing'a full, round skirt, women
adopted r skirt fuller in the back than in the
front, with a modest train. They were straight cut
in front, and decorated about the waist with dra
peries, often trimmed with rufflea. ','.' ?
Bodices were made quite plain. The materials
mostly worn were velvet or satin in winter, and
alpaca and mohair in summer. Small, graceful
hats and plain capes or coata were worn.
These styles made the figure effect extremely
simple, compared with the bulging figure of fifteen
years before. Skirts underwent various modifica
tions, diminishing in fulness and growing more elegant. Woman's figure
' waa nearer natural. The waist and arms melted into soft curve. The
aim was to make the whole effect harmonious.
Bodices wee tight fitting, the sleeves flat, the skirts comparatively
plain it was the modest, homely figure of the woman we can still remem
ber. Then followed a gradual modification a fumeas of sleeves, more
elaborate trimmings, fuller waists, larger hats.
And we, have now the woman of 1895, with the graceful figure a
figure of 'round curves above and straight ljnes below the waist.
- Full sleeves are now in favor; the waist is slightly narrower than
before; the skirts rather full, yet falling in a straight line. Knots of
ribbon and long plumes are worn, augmenting the f ancif ulnesa . of the
style.
Waists are slightly full, barely giving a suggestion of the natural
curves, Capes are now being worn ovex.the shoul
ders, and the full-sleeved bloomer dress of the
female cyclist is having an influence on the figure
of woman in street costume.
But the evolution continues. The figure
evolves and improves. And now we have revealed
to us, in all its glory, the
figure of the woman of 19081
Artistry of, line is the
keynote of the figure of the.
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tage the flowing curves that nature gave;
that they will be wonderfully and artistic
ally draped, as in the days of Helen of
Troy.
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TO COMPARE the figure of the lady in
the plain, ehort-waisted gown of the
style in vogue in 1807 with that of the
dainty, charming and elegant woman
in the dress of 1908 is to realize the sweeping
changes of fashion that have been so busy with
woman's figure during the intervening period.
First, one seej a lady in the dress of her
period, singularly plain, the pleasing curves of
fi the natural form concealed by the long, plain
- ekirt and the short bodice, while her lovely arms
are tramped in glovc-like skeves.
J . That there were to be no uneven lines in
te .the dictum of fashion then, and
the ladies of that period imagined the plain,
near-mother Hubbard" effect showed off the
beauty of form.'; Compare that form with the
one f tho lady you ee in the style of the pres
vnt.TOter? .winsome. creature gowned for the
admiration, of; all humanity. :ri.
V ... In 1807, or about that time, womeu of fash
ion would meet in the salon of Paris anddia-
cuss the bad taste of vanity,' While, a low cut
'was toade in the neck of the dress, alightly re
dealing, the ,awelling jthroftt; scarfs were worn
to obviate a decoljete effect. "
" The women themselves, during this! period,
according to a writer of the time, "affected
; melancholy and tired air, feigning to be weary
' of alf enjojment and thoroughly. worn. out.w.
It was a weary age, and we may even su
pect, having a perspective of the time, that the
dress of the women was probably a reflection of
the lull in social hilarity.
During the period of the early Restoration
court dress was quite simple, the figure being
slightly more revealed in fuller grace than in
the ordinary costume. Thocourt dresses were
made in low decollete, with a fulness and long
train in the back of the skirt.
Everyday costumes also underwent a tran
sition. Ruffles were adopted, the sleeves grew
fuller; rather slowly the akirts became wider,
until about 1830 or 1833 one could see the
astounding figure of the lady in the "hoop"
skirt. As the pendulum of dress had swung to
one extreme, it now went bounding the other
way.
Woman's figure then resembled a twin bal
loon. Great, full-blown skirts were worn, deco
rated with bows of ribbon; ladies wore wadded
gowns of velvet and the thickest satin, with lace
tuckers and great cashmere shawls.
Sleeves swelled to ' immense sues, while
great bonnets, shaped something like coal scut
tles, completed the amazing ; attire. As' she '
walked along the street a woman must have re
sembled a great moving mass of jelly, simply
wobbling and trembling in her exaggerated ful
ness of costume, v . ., ; ..
a. This period of drees .was. called .romantic
Large lace shawls were affected; on the bonnets
were immense flufferie's of lace and veiling, and
the colors of the dresses were varied and.warm
hucd. Immense, grotesque, the figure of woman
had lost all trace of its original natural charm.
But, fortunately, the taste became more
temperate in the decade that followed, and in
'1847 one could see a really graceful style a
style of harmonious curves. Perhaps the figure
at this period was the most artistically dis
played of any of the counterfeit forms which
woman from time immemorial has conceived at
various periods to disguise the natural shape.
This ligure of 1847 was but a pretty inter
vehti6n' betweep two extreme and exaggerated
eras. While the modified hoopskirts were
worn, the colors . of dress were bright but har
monious." Skirts were worn full; the sleeves
had grown much narrower, and were trimmed
with dainty tuckings.
Bodices were worn rather tight, with low
cut necks, trimmed with fur, ermine or rare
lace. Long, flowing shawls of variegated colors
were favored, and, from her Email, graceful
bonnet to her feet, a woman presented an at
tractive appearance for that day, . '
, i But the . god .of ; fashion the most .whimsi-
, cal and eccentric of all gods took a fit, and,
seven years later, evolved the outlandish style
of the great balloon skirt, done in a series of
ruffles, with remarkably tight-fitting bodices
a curious contrast.
Grand dames who dictated fashion during
this period, we are told, patronized dressmakers
who drew their inspiration from tragic, dra-
; matic and melodramatic literature. They com
bined in their garments Greek bodices, Polish
vests, Chinese tunics, Hungarian dolmans, Rus
sian riding habits, and fronT these styles
evolved amazing costumes, yet with delicate
combinations of colors.
: Picture to yourself the figure of the lady
of 1853, when the style reached its . extreme.
Skirts were worn full, and were adorned with
immense puffings of tulle or lace and ruffles
and flounces.
Square-cut, open bodicea were in general
favor, with tulle puffing around the decolle
tage. The fashion journals of 1850 give more
" than 1800 different patterns for ball dresseB of
this kind,. At this period women were simply
overwhelmed with flouncing. '
"As far as the fair sex. was -concerned,"
writes "a historian of the' time, 'it adopted be- c
twoen 1851 and 1870, roughly speaking, a tone,
a general style, of manners and of dress that
nobody, we may be sure, will care to revive; and
the. fact that these were obediently, copied, and -
day long, sweeping lines, an elegant contour,
a slimness and delicacy of form resembling
the classic lines of the Greeks. In this figure
the art of the modiste seems to reach its lofti
est ambition at least, so far as one may judge
from a long glance backward.
Simplicity of outline, soft curves enhanced
by charming drapery; a waist delightfully slen
der, -yet natural, and an accentuation of the
curve of the neck these are the dominant fea
tures of the figure of woman of today.
Gone are the grotesque caricatures of the
fifties tho swollen skirts, the outlandish
sleeves or the straight, prim lines and awk
ward, tight-fitting waists.
One hundred years ago, perhaps, woman's
figure had become as unlike the natural shape
as at any period in modern history. In 1908
the figure is resuming the charm and grace- sad
naturalness which characterized the . woman of
Athena when she was in her glory.
"With the woman who h shapely," says a
famous modiste, "there is little need for an ar
tificial . figure. But the woman who is not
shapely can be made 6hapely.
"In .this age the coraet maker gives hope to
all short women, tall women, fat women, tub-
by women, women without shapes. The corset
maker really gives, to deformed "women the nat- -ural,
figure. For the proper figure is the natural -one.
The corset is merely a means of empha
sizing the natural figure. This is what we.
strive to attain today a realization of tha .
grace given Mother Eve." - t . -.-. t ; ;,
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